Sound proofing party wall

grumpy_codger

Again, "builders", and it's not clear what "travel worse" actually means. Builders aren't experts in acoustics and just repeat what they heard from other "experts", possibly urban myths.

Soundproofing was discussed here many times, and unfortunately there are no simple and/or cheap solutions. Sometimes it can be cheaper to move elsewhere, to a quieter place.

Sistergold

Every person will come and give an”expert advise” which normally involves removing what another “expert” did and they do their own “proved” solution. The wrong and right advise will all cost a lot of money after which you will then find out if it works or not. If it does not work they will tell you something else. If you are not afraid of diy only try the advice which you can do yourself. 

Is there a bedroom further away you can sleep in  so that it does not bother you so much? When sleeping use ear plugs? 

Solution is probably to move if you can afford to. Noise is a pain and if there, difficult to get rid. Hope you can find something. 

Grenage

As others have indicated, results will vary and are generally disappointing. 

Noise reduction is either achieved through isolation (not really an option) or mass.  You can add mass to the surface, but you also have to consider space above the ceiling or any floor voids.

Any money you are thinking of spending should be tempered with low expectations.

MossyJ

Not cheap at all, but we had soundproofers in to add a stud wall with soundproofing insulation and we went from hearing the tv and conversations to quiet. Was £3k for two rooms and floor close to walls that we didn't intend to spend, but vastly increased our quality of life. Also greatly reduced the volume of the neighbour's dog, unfortunately that one died and they got a larger, much louder dog who's bark comes right through....

DullGreyGuy

Generally you need to add space or mass or ideally both so it depends how much your willing to spend and how much floor to sacrifice. 

Ideally you want to ensure the sound is just coming through the wall and not the floor or ceiling else you can spend a lot of money on the wall and have little benefit at the end. Knowing the construction of the properties will help identify the likely culprits. 

GDB2222

MossyJ said:

Not cheap at all, but we had soundproofers in to add a stud wall with soundproofing insulation and we went from hearing the tv and conversations to quiet. Was £3k for two rooms and floor close to walls that we didn't intend to spend, but vastly increased our quality of life. Also greatly reduced the volume of the neighbour's dog, unfortunately that one died and they got a larger, much louder dog who's bark comes right through....

I'm delighted you had such a positive result. Maybe, you should name the consultants you used?

Sadly, there have been people posting here who have spent the same as you, or much more, and not been at all happy with the results.

MossyJ

GDB2222 said:

MossyJ said:

Not cheap at all, but we had soundproofers in to add a stud wall with soundproofing insulation and we went from hearing the tv and conversations to quiet. Was £3k for two rooms and floor close to walls that we didn't intend to spend, but vastly increased our quality of life. Also greatly reduced the volume of the neighbour's dog, unfortunately that one died and they got a larger, much louder dog who's bark comes right through....

I'm delighted you had such a positive result. Maybe, you should name the consultants you used?

Sadly, there have been people posting here who have spent the same as you, or much more, and not been at all happy with the results.

It was Cheshire Soundproofing. They also did a nicer job with the plaster skim than the actual plasterers did elsewhere in the house!

M_anonymous

Those carpet tiles off Amazon won't do anything. Don't waste your time or money. 

I work in the world of Audio Visual and the microphones struggle with echo and audio problems in some meeting rooms or bigger rooms. You will fix your problem with a 50mm thick acoustic panel just sat against the wall. You can even get it printed like a canvas.  Basotect or Ecophon is the sound insulation material, covered with some fabric. 

teaselMay

Thanks for that, I was becoming sceptical looking at the range and prices of the Amazon tiles. It doesn't need to be the whole wall covered in acoustic panel does it just enough of it?

I think my (I'm not the OP) issue is likely to be that I don't want lots of soft furnishings as I've duff lungs but do want the sound absorption effect that they'd give.

GDB2222

teaselMay said:

Thanks for that, I was becoming sceptical looking at the range and prices of the Amazon tiles. It doesn't need to be the whole wall covered in acoustic panel does it just enough of it?

I think my (I'm not the OP) issue is likely to be that I don't want lots of soft furnishings as I've duff lungs but do want the sound absorption effect that they'd give.

A couple of bits of sound absorbing material would reduce the echo within your own room, which might help a bit. If the room is completely devoid of anything soft, because of your lungs, then even a small amount of sound absorbing material could help with the echo. 

Sound transmission through the wall is different. If you only cover say 10% of the wall, you can’t expect to reduce noise transmission through the wall by more than 10%, can you?